BIRDS OVER MY HEAD

I went for a lunchtime walk, down the hill, all the way to Sainsbury’s. It’s only 20 minutes! Though back up was a bit more of a push.

I used to walk to work that way - pre-Covid - back when there was a work to walk to. It’s not too much different these days: the derelict hotel with its boarded-up swimming pool, Stockholmhaven appearing at the bottom, and the little business estate where no-one ever seems to go in or out of the buildings. And of course, the field with the donkeys and the lovely view of the valley. Oh I really love the way the trees open up.

What I really like is the isolation. I used to think about London as I trudged that leafy lane five years ago, particularly at how grateful I was that I didn’t have to work in the city. There was a real privilege in breathing in the fresh morning air, feeling the sun as it flickered through the tree tunnel, or hearing the rain scatter from the trees. Compared to the tube, or the grisly shuffle through the station with someone’s rucksack in your nose, that walk was a wonder. And best of all, I was alone in it.

I was alone today too. I’ve been learning bird names for quiz revision and so I was listening to me reciting them on a loop. It was sweet to have some of those birds singing back to me in real life, just over my head.

I’m starting to wonder whether a lot of things are over my head, you know. I revise something and it flutters away a few days later. There seems to be no reason to what gets lodged in, other than the things I’m taking a lot of time to focus on. As if bird names are going to come up in Brain of Britain! Though they might. And I’ll be cross with myself if I get mixed up on the day.

I’m starting to have dreams about that actually. More about that some other time.

Anyway, I enjoyed the country lane leading down to Stockholmhaven and eventually to Sainsbury’s. I think I’ll do it more often.